Game Debate #237: Mortal Kombat II

[Reed Rothchild | 10,065]

[Gloves | 12,574]

I'm always torn between this and 3. I like the esthetic a lot on this one, the theme songs, the maps, and the characters. Fatalities were great. 

3 gives you a lot *more* (especially with the different versions), but it always felt to me like jumping the shark ever so slightly. Which is odd to say about an already over the top kind of game, it was wacky for sure, but 3 felt like the fortnite to my pubg, to a lesser degree. I'm sure fortnite is more polished, it's certainly more popular, but 2 for me was closer to the feel of the original for me. 

[NostalgicMachine | 383]

9/10 title. The AI is legendary for its input reading. The actual fighting and combo system weren't there yet, but it's still a gem.

For those of you that may have missed it, I did a video for MK2 for my channel last year explaining my full position as a die-hard MK fan!: 

 

[TDIRunner | 2,998]

The SNES version of MKII was always my favorite and the one I played the most.  It took everything from the original and improved on it.  If you played the original on SNES, the improvements were significantly bigger because they left so much out of the original on SNES.  The graphics were a lot cleaner than the original, and the controls were very tight.  With that said, I was never very good at the single player version of the game.  My enjoyment came from playing my brother or other friends in 2 player mode.  

[Webhead123 | 831]

Here's the deal...I LOVED MK2 back in the day. I mean, if you lived through the early 90's, there's a good chance you loved it, too. I still appreciate it to some extent today, mostly because of the incredibly iconic graphics, sound, atmosphere, characters, lore, etc. The problem is that the gameplay itself, while charming in some ways, doesn't really hold up. The AI in most versions is pretty aggressively cheap. The combat mechanics themselves are quite stiff and limited. Most of the entertainment factor lives and dies by the ridiculous violence of it all.

So, while 2 might be my favorite of the classic MK games out of nostalgia, I find it can be a real drag to play today. If you had asked me what I thought when I was 15, I would have called it a 9/10. But looking at the prospect of playing it today, it's just a 6. I'll still play it and have a bit of fun but I can really only take it in small doses. Street Fighter 2 holds up much better in the game play department in 2025 than MK2 does.

[mbd39 | 2,147]

7/10

Great for the time.  Probably still playable, but I'm not interested in this franchise now.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:01 PM by mbd39

[RH | 5,413]

I gave it an 8 but it's tough to really pin it down. MK1 was an icon. It was such a product of it's time but it was also a very solid game, plus pairing it with real imagery, rather than artist created sprites was mind blowing.

MK1 had a lot going for it to make it a classic, but then MK2 drops and it's more of the same, but just cranked to 11... or so it seemed until, as @Gloves pointed out, MK3 dropped.

I loved all of these games. I was never a good fighting-game player, but the MK series was definitely my favorite 2D series. It was still a "real" game, but no where near as technical as the Street Fighter titles or, God forbid, anything put out by SNK!  MK had enough cheeeze for us bad players to be able to play and enjoy.  MK2 is a good middle-game between the three.

I gave it an 8, but it's more because I feel like it's just a good game BUT... I'd recommend any fighting-game lover play this, even if they haven't ever touched an MK game.  In fact, I'd recommend anyone who loves fighting games to play through MK1-3 in an evening, just for the experience.

I was never into the fatalities and blood that much. I know that sounds crazy, considering it was a selling point. I mean, I didn't hate it. It definitely grabbed my attention. That said, I feel like it's just a really good presentation and a very fun game to play. You can get technical with it, but it's also easy to just pick up, play and enjoy for what it is.

[The Count | 622]

I love the older MK games, my favorite being Ultimate MK3 as it had the most characters. I definitely prefer the series to Street Fighter. 8/10.

[DefaultGen | 5,957]

When I was a kid, my friend would just spam Scorpion's teleport and beat me every time because I didn't know how to play fighting games. 0/10

[DarkTone | 1,039]

7. 

[doner24 | 1,234]

8, would’ve been a 10 when I was 14. Was the first game I saved my money up to buy in 8th grade. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,363]

I gave it a 4.  I'm not a fan of fighters in general, so that hinders it right off the hop.  Add in that it's a pretty mid level fighter overall, who's only real draw is the over-the-top violence (which really doesn't hold up well), and I have a hard time recommending it to anyone.

[rdrunner | 461]

3/10 - I know fighting games are usually best played in multiplayer, but the AI in this game was unplayable for me.  I slogged through it once just to see the final boss, but it was a painful couple of hours with roughly 10-15 minutes between wins.  No thanks!

[NostalgicMachine | 383]

11 hours ago, rdrunner said:

3/10 - I know fighting games are usually best played in multiplayer, but the AI in this game was unplayable for me.  I slogged through it once just to see the final boss, but it was a painful couple of hours with roughly 10-15 minutes between wins.  No thanks!

I'm not even here to argue with you on your stance. I'm a die-hard classic MK fanboi to the millionth degree, and I still maintain MKII beyond its aesthetic and legacy is actually a very subpar fighting game mechanically - whether it's the atrocious AI or the two-player mode.

It plays like a blocky brick compared to UMK3, which I argue is still the peak of 2D classic MK.

MKII is the epitome of all show and no go, but somehow in a good way.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,093]

I gave it a 7/10. Nostalgia glasses on, id give it a 9 or 10. However, other fighters from that era are a better representation of the genre. Not quite great but it's a game that everyone needs to play and had established the roots for the genre at the time. 

[G-type | 2,935]

I'm not much of a fighting game player, but this is probably my favorite fighting game. A big improvement over MK1, and better atmosphere and characters than MK3. I always liked the digitized sprite style, and this is pretty much the pinnacle. 

[elprincipe | 153]

I always thought the original MK was drastically inferior to Street Fighter II and Samurai Shodown. MKII was a massive improvement in every way and quickly became a game I played regularly at the arcade. I really loved the dramatically improved gameplay and controls, new settings, all the fun secrets, and the new characters. I think they went in the wrong direction with MKIII and I wasn't a fan, so MKII remains easily my favorite MK game and is always fun to play. 9/10.

Edited yesterday at 01:13 AM by elprincipe

[twiztor | 950]

10/10. My all-time favorite fighting game.

[JamesRobot | 6,256]

It's fine but I was kind of over Mortal Kombat by the time 2 came around.  I was starting to play Virtual Fighter at the arcade and sold my Genesis to buy a guitar the following year. 

I'd have sold my Nintendo too but the stores were only paying a buck a game at the time.  Thank God I came to my senses and held onto that collection.